Coatesville teachers' union hopeful

CALN – Coatesville teachers’ contracts will expire in four months and union members are eager to settle by the end of the 2013-14 school year.

“We feel strongly that it is in the best interest of the district as a whole for us to reach a fair and equitable settlement of a new contract prior to the start of the new school year,” Coatesville Area Teachers’ Association vice president Jeffrey Guy said at a school board meeting March 25. “Doing so would enable us to finish the year on a positive note and move into a new era.”

There are 483 teachers in the school district that are members of the union known as CATA. Their contracts expire Aug. 29.

Union leaders said they hope discussions that started Jan. 10 will end on a positive note for teachers, students, taxpayers and the school district before school lets out in June.

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According to CATA President Audra Ritter, the school district has operated in turmoil for the past several months. She said the departure of two former high-ranking administrators in a texting scandal and the events that followed have caused constant controversy and brought criticism to the school district.

“We are just in the very beginning stages, but we feel it’s so important with everything our district has gone through, and has continued to go through, to settle a contract that is fair,” Ritter said.

Former superintendent Richard Como and former high school Director of Athletics and Activities Jim Donato were found to have exchanged racially and sexually offensive text messages using district issued phones.

Since September, some school board members and administrators have faced heavy criticism from the public, and the district is in the midst of multiple internal and external investigations.

Ritter said it’s time to “rebuild the district.”

School district officials said for the past few years the district witnessed a significant amount of furloughs due to budgetary constraints. Furloughs before the texting scandal were not out of the ordinary.

In 2011, seven teachers were furloughed and two non-certified staff members were dismissed with their positions eliminated. Six teachers were furloughed in 2012 and 14 were furloughed in 2013 with six teachers recalled back to the district a few months later.

Teachers were hit with a pay freeze and moratorium on tuition reimbursement in 2011.

“(CATA) is more than willing to sit down and negotiate a fair settlement with the school board,” Guy said at the school board meeting last month. “We are asking for open lines of communication and for respectful good faith bargaining. Hopefully, before the school year ends we can stand here and announce an agreement has been reached ... ”

Ritter said the appointment of Cathy Taschner as superintendent is one less item on the school board’s to-do list. She said it’s time to check off another and settle teachers’ contracts so they can continue to be “dedicated and committed to providing our students with the best education possible” without an expired contract lingering over their heads.

“We don’t want to start next year on the upheaval we started on this year,” Ritter said.

Follow Daily Local News staff writer Kristina Scala on Twitter @Scala_Kris and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/KristinaScalaDLN.

About the Author

Kristina Scala, a Brooklyn native and 2012 graduate of Rowan University, started working for the Daily Local News in August 2013. She covers Coatesville Area School District, Coatesville City and municipalities associated with the school district. Reach the author at KScala@dailylocal.com
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